Victoria man, 24, dies in truck crash

A 24-year-old Victoria man died early Saturday when his pickup crashed on U.S. Highway 77 just north of Old Goliad Road and burst into flames, said Trooper Gerald Bryant of the Department of Public Safety.

The driver of the 2008 Chevrolet pickup, Shawn Cobb, was pronounced dead at the scene, Bryant said.

The accident was reported at 2:30 a.m., a Corpus Christi DPS spokesperson said. The truck crashed when it veered off the road and hit a guard rail. The truck flipped end over end down an embankment and landed upside down.

The Victoria Fire Department received the emergency call at 2:40 a.m. The truck was in flames when firefighters arrived, said Battalion Chief Clifton Bayer.

"If you ever met him, you'd never forget him," said Betsy Ledwig, mother of Cobb's good friend, Daron Ledwig, 24. "Shawn had a smile that would light up the room."

Cobb and Daron Ledwig had been friends for a decade, and Cobb was the best man in Ledwig's wedding.